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Executive Orders for Medicaid and Abortion Funding; West Virginia Leading in Vaccinating Residents; Most Americans Will Wait Months for Vaccine; Men Convicted of Murdering Daniel Pearl are Released; Russian Police Raid Navalny's Apartment. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired January 28, 2021 - 06:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

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[06:31:01]

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: President Biden ramping up efforts to help expand health care during the pandemic. The White House just announcing that he will order health care exchanges to be reopened today.

CNN's Jeremy Diamond is live at the White House with more.

Hi, Jeremy.

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Alisyn.

President Biden, today, will sign an executive order reopening the enrollment period for health insurance for all states that participate in healthcare.gov, the federally run Obamacare marketplace. That's 36 states where Americans, in just two weeks, will get three months to sign up once again for health care coverage. The White House citing the economic and health constrains of this pandemic.

President Biden also signing a presidential memorandum today that looks to reverse some of the restriction on abortion services that the Trump administration put in place. That includes revoking the Mexico City policy, also known as the global gag rule, which essentially prevented the federal government from providing funding to international non-profits that provided abortion services or even referrals and counseling and other reproductive services. The memorandum will also take aim at a Trump administration rule that restricted health care providers that participate in the Title 10 family planning program from receiving federal funding if they also provide abortion referrals here in the United States.

These are just a few of the steps that President Biden is taking today on health care. He is also looking to try and shore up the Affordable Care Act, taking aim at some of the policies that the Trump administration put in place that sought to weaken Obamacare, where some of those protections, for example, for people with pre-existing conditions.

To be clear, these are just some of the first steps that President Biden is going to be taking. But if he wants to implement the health care plan that he laid out during the 2020 campaign, that's going to have to go through Congress, including, of course, that effort to create a public option for people who sign up for health insurance. That needs congressional support.

John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, Jeremy.

Jeremy Diamond at the White House.

Thank you very much.

On coronavirus, as federal officials try to get more vaccines to states, many are looking to West Virginia, which has vaccinated 9 percent of its residents. That is above the national average.

CNN's Miguel Marquez finds out what they are doing right.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All right. If you just want to relax your arm just like that.

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): One shot, one arm at a time.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You're welcome.

MARQUEZ: Today, a hospice nurse.

MARQUEZ (on camera): How difficult was it to schedule this?

HOLLIE JEFFREY, GETTING 2ND MODERNA SHOT: It wasn't hard at all. They sent you the link and then you got online and just picked your place and your time and it was pretty easy.

MARQUEZ (voice over): A parole officer.

MATT MEADOWS, GETTING 2ND MODERNA SHOT: I would have gone to the end of the earth to get the vaccine.

MARQUEZ (on camera): Right. But it was ten minutes down the road?

MEADOWS: Right, ten minutes.

MARQUEZ (voice over): And a registered nurse, all in a state showing some of the best results nationwide in getting vaccines from manufacturers into arms.

NOREEN SHARKEY, GETTING 2ND MODERNA SHOT: There were so many other places in West Virginia providing it. We could choose.

MARQUEZ: Their vaccination destination, Kenova, West Virginia's local pharmacy, Griffith and Feil Drug, around since before the last pandemic in 1918. MARQUEZ (on camera): How important is it to use places like this to

distribute vaccines?

HEIDI ROMERO, GRIFFITH AND FEIL DRUG, KENOVA, WEST VIRGINIA: It's been a benefit because we had an existing relationship. A lot of the times, most of the local pharmacies already worked with the long-term care facilities.

MARQUEZ (voice over): West Virginia, which opted out of the federal government's distribution program, was the first state to administer shots to all residents and staff in all long-term care facilities statewide. Pharmacies like Griffith and Feil, a sort of unofficial community center, used local knowledge to get shots into arms. So far, they say, they've not wasted a single dose.

ROMERO: I've even driven to a patient's home just to give them a dose because it was going to go to waste. She was 99 years old. Her daughter said, she's ready to go. So I hopped in my truck, drove across town and gave it to her in her house.

MARQUEZ: This decentralized system of vaccination, in locations both small and large, along with highly organized distribution has proved an overwhelming success.

[06:35:05]

MARQUEZ (on camera): What is the most important number for you guys?

HOLLI NELSON, WEST VIRGINIA NATIONAL GUARD: The most important number is that administration rate. So how many shots are we getting in each week, how many are going into arms.

MARQUEZ: And what is that percentage right now? What's that number?

NELSON: Right now it's at 95 percent today.

MARQUEZ: Ninety-five percent.

NELSON: It starts over every week for us.

MARQUEZ (voice over): In what was a National Guard gym, the state is coordinating a sort of Amazon-like distribution system. Every week, vaccines delivered to five hubs, then distributed by the National Guard throughout the mountain state.

JOE PEAL, DIRECTOR, JOINT INTERAGENCY TASK FORCE: Right now we receive a little over 23,000 vaccines a week. We want to build a capacity that we can receive and vaccinate people over 100,000 per week.

MARQUEZ: He says they're ready to ramp up now, they only need more vaccine. Lots of it.

GOV. JIM JUSTICE (R-WV): If truly, today, we had an unlimited supply of vaccine, I would promise you beyond any doubt whatsoever, every single person in the third oldest state with the most chronic illnesses that are 65 and above in West Virginia, all of them -- all of them would have the vaccine in their arms by the 14th of February.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MARQUEZ: Now, interestingly, West Virginia's been planning this distribution center from way before they even had the vaccine available. One of the things that they have figured out, having people just show up and wait for a possible vaccine is a really inefficient way to do it, so they're pre-registering now for the future. They've already signed up 100,000. They intend to sign up and pre-register every West Virginians who wants a vaccine now so that when they have it they can get a vaccine as quickly as possible and they know exactly where they're going to get it.

Back to you guys.

BERMAN: Really interesting, Miguel.

And can I also just say on like a personal note, after all the struggle you've seen in so many different places around the country, I'm really glad that you're having a chance to report on somewhere where they're making progress now, fighting back against this pandemic. So, thank you so much for that.

Possible major changes to how you will fly. What it might soon take for you to get on an airplane, next.

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[06:46:03]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDY SLAVITT, SENIOR ADVISER TO WHITE HOUSE COVID-19 RESPONSE TEAM: We are taking action to increase supply and increase capacity. But even so, it will be months before everyone who wants a vaccine will be able to get one.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: That's President Biden's senior coronavirus adviser saying it will be months before most Americans are able to get vaccinated.

As of this morning, only 6.3 percent of the U.S. population has received their first dose and only 1.2 percent are fully vaccinated with two doses.

Joining us now is Dr. Ali Khan. He's the dean of the College of Public Health at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.

Dr. Khan, great to see you, as always.

I have lowered my expectations. I'm not surprised that it will be months before most Americans can be vaccinated. But then we just saw that Miguel Marquez piece -- I don't know if you were able to watch it -- but how well West Virginia is doing by basically decentralizing and having a highly organized distribution process. Why can't we just all -- why can't every state follow their model?

DR. ALI KHAN, DEAN, COLLEGE OF PUBLIC HEALTH, UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA MEDICAL CENTER: Good morning, Alisyn.

So it's two separate issues. So there's no doubt our operational efficiencies are getting better. The last time I was on this show, I think it was 25 percent of doses that had been distributed had been administered. We're now up to about 55 percent nationally. And some states, such as West Virginia, are doing a great job. So there's no doubt those will keep on getting better until our target of 75 to 80 percent. But that's only one part of the story.

The bigger part of the story is the supply issue, right? So there's a large demand for vaccines, which is both of you and me. But there's only going to be 200 million doses of vaccine until March. That's not enough for everybody who needs it. And that's why you heard that frank statement from the White House and from the CDC director that, no, everybody who wants a vaccine will not be able to get it until into the spring and the summer when more vaccine doses are made available.

The piece of good news in that potentially is that if the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is approved, that may be another source of supply for us.

BERMAN: The new CDC director, Rochelle Walensky, talked about new concerns about the variants that are very much here in the United States.

Listen to what she said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROCHELLE WALENSKY, DIRECTOR, CDC: The variants that have been identified recently seem to spread more easily. They're more transmissible, which can lead to increased number of cases and increased stress on our already taxed health care system.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: So they're here, they're likely to spread, the vaccines won't be administered early enough to fight them back, necessarily, Dr. Khan. So then some states, like California, New York, the governor just announced in-person dining will be open again soon. What do you think about these restrictions that are being opened up with these variants on the horizon?

KHAN: So it's inconsistent with a good public health approach. People, obviously, are relieved that we've gotten over the fourth surge and gotten over that crest. But we're seeing -- still seeing 150,000 cases a day. That's three times what it was at the beginning of the fall.

And, yes, these variants of concern are concerning because they may be more infectious, they potentially are more deadly, they potentially are likely to lead to changes in your ability to treat people or vaccinate people. But, still, good-old public health works for them, right? So contact testing, tracing, isolation, quarantining, masking, social distancing, hand washing, those public health measures still work. We still need to use those measures and get cases down in our community. That also helps prevent new variants.

CAMEROTA: I want to ask you about travel, even domestic travel. There's some suggestion that maybe people will have to be tested and have a negative result, even before flying within the country.

Doctor, when are we getting those at-home testing kits, those rapid at-home testing kits? When are those coming?

KHAN: So what you're hearing about domestic travel mirrors what we're -- already had seen worldwide and now are seeing here in the United States, which is all international travelers coming back into the U.S. need to be tested.

[06:45:09]

This is now going to be potentially mirrored domestically. It's to stop sort of non-essential travel and stop transfer of these variants and transmission across communities.

And yes, we do need better testing available and easier testing available at home or at other sites so that people can understand that they're infected and stay home, stay isolated.

And when -- when do you think we're getting those?

KHAN: I have no timeline for you. There's already some tests that are available without prescription at home and those are just going to increase over time, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: I hope so. Everybody's waiting for that. That would make our lives so much easier.

Dr. Khan, thank you very much. Always great to talk to you.

KHAN: Always a pleasure to see both of you. Thank you.

And, remember, mask on, everybody. That hasn't changed, even with the vaccine.

CAMEROTA: Let me see yours? Oh, that's a nice -- handsome. Very handsome. Thank you.

All right, meanwhile, a man convicted and later acquitted of beheading "Wall Street Journal" reporter Daniel Pearl may be freed from prison soon. We're going to tell you what just happened this morning.

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[06:50:11]

We do have breaking news and it's stunning news for all of us who remember the horrifying murder of "Wall Street Journal" reporter Daniel Pearl. Pakistan's supreme court just ordered the release of four men who were convicted of kidnapping and beheading Pearl.

CNN's Ivan Watson covered Pearl's murder extensively. He joins us now with the breaking details.

Ivan, what's going on here?

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I mean, this is a -- is a shocking development. And the murder of Daniel Pearl, it was one of the really disturbing periods at the beginning of the U.S.- led war on terror. Just months after the September 11th attacks, Daniel Pearl disappeared. He was in Pakistan. "Wall Street Journal" bureau chief. And he had been meeting a contact while investigating Islamism militant groups. And in broad daylight, he got into a car at a Chinese restaurant in downtown Karachi and was taken away, lured away, and wasn't seen until later on this terrible video that emerged where his kidnappers beheaded him. And in -- subsequently, you know, that, of course, led to subsequent grisly killings carried out, copy- cat killings, by al Qaeda and other copy-cat groups like ISIS.

Now, I covered the trial of the suspects here, four men. Their leader was a British-born man name Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh. He was a real piece of work, who had served time in India for allegedly kidnapping four tourists there, only released in a prisoner swap after terrorists hijacked an Indian plane to Afghanistan. And then he was arrested over the Daniel Pearl kidnapping and murder. He was completely unrepentant when he was sentenced to death in 2002 and talked about a war between Muslims and non-Muslims. The Supreme Court, 18 years later, overruling that conviction. The Pakistani government doesn't want this. It's keeping the suspects on a no-fly, no-exit list.

Meanwhile, here's a statement from the attorney for the Pearl family. Quote, today's decision is a complete travesty of justice and the release of these killers puts in danger journalists everywhere and the people of Pakistan. We urge the U.S. government to take all necessary actions under the law to correct this injustice.

John.

BERMAN: All right, Ivan, as I said, this is stunning news to so many people who so vividly remember what happened. Thank you for bringing that to us. Keep us posted throughout the morning.

In the meantime, a dramatic raid at the home of a fighter for democracy. We have new details, next.

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[06:56:33]

CAMEROTA: Secretary of State Tony Blinken says he is deeply concerned about Russia's treatment of opposition leader Alexey Navalny. Masked Russian police raided Navalny's apartment and offices while Navalny remains detained in jail.

Matthew Chance has the latest from Moscow.

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MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): It's always been the Kremlin's instinct to silence its critics. Why these Russian police are raiding the offices of Alexey Navalny in Moscow say supporters, and the family apartment, banging on the door, even while the opposition leader is held in jail. This is real pressure being ratcheted up on the man the Kremlin appear to see as a major threat.

He's already survived an agonizing attempt on his life with a nerve agent. Now the anti-corruption campaigner faces multiple criminal proceedings and years, potentially, behind bars. And he's only the latest to feel Vladimir Putin's wrath.

Take Mikhail Khodorkovsky, once Russia's richest oligarch. He famously fell out with Putin by funding opposition groups and highlighting official corruption before being arrested and serving ten years in a Russian jail while his oil company, Yukos, was broken up.

Looking back, I was one of the lucky ones, he told me from exile in London. I lost a decade of my life in prison. But others who challenged Putin have paid a far higher price, he tells me. That list is long.

Russia's most prominent investigative journalist, Anna Politkovskaya, shed light on Russian operations in a brutal war in Chechnya before being gunned down in her apartment building on 2006 on Putin's birthday.

Then there was Boris Nemtsov, a fierce Putin critic and opposition leader, shot dead in 2015 outside the Kremlin's walls as he walked home from a restaurant. The Kremlin denies any connection with the killings. Opposition figures say beatings and threats are commonplace.

Political opponents are also shamed and discredited, sometimes with secretly recorded sex tapes, like this one of a former Russian prime minister turned Kremlin critic.

Mikhail Khodorkovsky says the new U.S. administration must now take the global lead to protect Alexey Navalny.

Personal sanctions must be imposed by President Biden and others in the west on those closest to Putin, he tells me. This would be extremely painful for Putin's entourage and will affect the stability of his power, he says.

It would also show Alexey Navalny himself and the tens of thousands across Russia protesting for his release, that they have powerful allies.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHANCE: Well, Alisyn, this morning in Moscow, Alexey Navalny's lawyers are arguing in a courtroom in the center of the Russian capital for him to be released from detention. He was placed under that detention when he flew back from Germany earlier this month having recovered from that nerve agent poisoning. But at the moment, Alisyn, the authorities are showing no sign at all

of letting him free or of easing pressure on this prominent opposition leader.

[07:00:03]

CAMEROTA: This is far from over.

Matthew Chance, thank you very much for that reporting.

And NEW DAY continues right now.